While I'm all about people coming out in their own time, can we just get at least one "FINALLY!" from the crowd and then move on? Thanks. Clay is gay: Aiken comes out of the closet
I posted this @ 8/31/2008 04:38:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
7/21/2008
NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY. WORDS CAN'T BRING YOU DOWN.
Stories like this make me think. I get torn. Which, I suppose a good article should do. If you're not familiar with the story... I'll give you the short version of the 5-page article. Larry King, 15 years old, was shot twice in the head at school by a classmate, Brandon McInerney, 14 years old.
Larry was a flamboyant, cross-dressing, young man. Make-up. Glitter. High heels. He worked it all. With a troubled past involving a drug-using mother and not-in-the-picture father, Larry was adopted by supportive parents. Larry had been diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder and given ADHD medication.
Brandon's past wasn't much brighter. His parents split after Brandon's father shot his mother in the arm and then his father claimed the mother turned the home into a drug house. Once Brandon's mother entered rehab, Brandon went to live with his father.
Larry was a disruptive student. If not in appearance, then in behavior. Students had created a Mean Girls-esque "Burn Book" and wrote about how much they hated Larry. Larry openly flirted with Brandon in school. Brandon threatened Larry telling Larry's friends to tell him goodbye because he wasn't coming back. Some teachers were very supportive of Larry's right to express himself. Others were concerned about his dress and behavior. They'd go to the school's administration that one of the Assistant Principals, who was also a lesbian, was possible pushing her own agenda on to Larry. She states Larry had sought her out for guidance.
Larry's adoptive father, Greg is upset that gay-rights groups are making Larry the new Matthew Sheppard. He is not wholly convinced that Larry was gay. Greg is more concerned about the ability of a student to get a gun into the school. Where are the resources to help either of these troubled students, he questions.
So my questions are many. Be out. Be proud. Be loud? Is that really the best idea? Did Larry bring it upon himself? Like so many others wondering, how did Brandon get a gun and get it into a group home alternative school? How much do you encourage a child to express themselves?
Putting the victim/accused's gender and sexuality aside for a moment... If this had been a girl killed by a boy, would a lot of these question even come up? What kind of things would be said to a boy who was overtly sexual with a girl? These are issues that do come up in schools. Can they be handled like any other social/behavioral issue?
I posted this @ 7/21/2008 05:56:00 AM.............Need a link?..........
5/28/2008
WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE
Am I so naive to think that multiracial couples are even noteworthy? Granted, I get that it's in the news because Obama is a presidential candidate. But really, is it that unusual?
"In June, a California judge will hear a plaintiffs' motion for class certification in a case that accuses eHarmony of discrimination against gays and lesbians. eHarmony does not reject gays—it simply doesn't accept them: the only choices on the site are "man seeking woman" or "woman seeking man." A company lawyer explains that eHarmony makes matches based on unique scientific research into what makes heterosexual unions work; it hasn't done the same kind of work on gay unions, though it doesn't rule out such research in the future. While this explanation may be true, it also sidesteps the real problem. eHarmony was founded eight years ago by a conservative Christian who had a passionate interest in the benefits of shared values in heterosexual marriage—and he sold this formula within the Christian world. (Warren was not available for comment.) Today, the company desires to reap the economies of scale offered by a mainstream clientèle, and in the wider world, shared values are not as easy to compute."
I understand a site, much like a club or organization, can dictate who it does and doesn't want in the club. Some will cry discrimination, and they may be right. I am amused how eHarmony sidesteps the discrimination issue on their site, but only have two hetero sexual based choices.
Much like surveys, websites can skew the information they gather, but only offering a limited number of choices for answers. There are the obvious assumptions that because the dating site has ties with James Dobson's Focus on the Family that they are discriminating based on sexual orientation.
What explination is given for being rejected by the site? What about the assumption that gays aren't Christians or that some aren't 'conservative'? (Which I know opens a whole can of Biblical worms.)
There is really no good answer, in my opinion. Because can you really come out and openly say you discriminate again any in particular? There would be so much backlash, no matter who it was your were discriminating against. Is it just easier to play 'dumb' and act like you didn't realize you were doing anything wrong?
This article makes me laugh. As part of "Wacky Week" at an elementary school the students were allowed to dress up as senior citizens or as the opposite gender. The Voice of Christian Youth America were upset and spoke of their outrage on a syndicated radio program. Ok. Fair enough. I can understand why they would have an objection. Yet on the other hand... I think the reason they are upset is a bit 'bloated'. Promotes alternative lifestyles and transgenderism? Really? Ok if you say so.
For years my high school alma mater would have at least one day during Homecoming "Spirit Week" was Opposite Sex day. They also promoted Pajama Day and Crazy Hair Day. It's pretty common for all sorts of business and functions to use cross-dressing as a form of comedy. Now, do I think that someone saw Opposite Sex day as a chance to openly wear clothes that they may one day go own to wear? Probably. Do I think that in an elementary setting that anyone is making lifestyle choices? Possibly... but it's unlikely. Not impossible, just unlikely.
I'm trying really hard to stay out of the realm of "So what if they do?" but it's not easy. Are the kids really being THAT influenced, by something that is done in gest and not connected to anything sexual at all? Granted it's far from my cup of tea, but I question the effect they are saying it has.
"Art Price Jr., 40, of Bellevue, Ohio, was arrested after a neighbor videotaped him engaged sexually with the metal table, according to a report on FOX19.com."
At least it was metal... anyone thinking about splinters from a wooden table!?
WASHINGTON - British researchers say they have created embryos and stem cells using human cells and the egg cells of cows, but said such experiments would not lead to hybrid human-animal babies, or even to direct medical therapies.
...
"In my view there is no risk of making monsters this way. The biology will not work. Nor is that the intent of any of these experiments anyway, so I don't think that fear is justified,"
I posted this @ 3/12/2008 11:03:00 AM.............Need a link?..........
2/07/2008
I AM SO SMART. S-M-R-T
This news flash came across the MSNBC site today. I could have (and might as well have) wrote this myself. The glaring errors are like excepts taking directly from my chat logs. I suppose I should not be surprised that they are predicting Obama as the winner of the Democratic nomination while CNN and FOXNews say Clinton.
For your proofreading pleasure...
BOSTON - Mitt Romney will suspend his presidential campaign, NBC News has learned.
His withdrawal effectively cedes the Republican nomination to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington Thursday, Romney talked of Democratic Candidates Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama retreating in Iraq and declaring defeat.
He then told the crowd he disagrees with McCain on a number of issues, but that he'd given the mater a lot of thougth and if he fought on all the way to the Republican convention, " I forestall the launch of a national campaign and frankly I'd be makign it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win. Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."
Romney added, "If this were only about me, I can go on. But its never been only about me. I entered this race... because I love America, and because I love America, in thsi time of war, i feel I now have to stand aside, for our party and for our country."
The former Massachusetts Republican governor has been seriously trailing McCain in the delegate count since Super Tuesday.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., remains in the race but trails Romney in the delegate counts.
I posted this @ 2/07/2008 05:00:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
1/21/2008
CATCH MY DISEASE
Is there a new threat? Or just the same old one that people had been ignoring. A New ‘Gay Disease’? Considering a contestant on Project Runway recently left because of a staph infection, this was pretty timely.
I posted this @ 1/21/2008 09:43:00 AM.............Need a link?..........
1/18/2008
WE ARE THE WORLD
I'm not sure how I feel about this article. There is a part of me that understands that there is a lot of money putting put into AIDS research, especially in a country where childhood are dying of hunger. So there are going to be people who say that the money should be better spent. Yet part of me wonder why funding should be cut based on a statistically larger problem.
I understand the limits of a budget. I understand that money has to come from somewhere. Rob Peter to pay Paul. Yet to think that AIDS research might lose funding and as a result AIDS-related deaths jump in numbers, is kind of saddening.
Like I said... I don't have much to say about it. I'm not sure how I feel, but I wanted to toss it out there.
I posted this @ 1/18/2008 05:21:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
9/04/2007
WHERE THE GIRLS ARE THE FAIREST, THE BOYS ARE THE SQUAREST
There is no place like Nebraska. Fight song aside, I do like Nebraska, Omaha in particular. I've always enjoyed the 'big' small town feel that it has to it. On a (rare) political note, my views are probably more liberal that what might be common to the state as a whole. I've been told that I don't seem like I come from a small town. Now... having said that, when I'm in a larger city, I certain feel like a small town kind of guy.
But... I'm getting off track.
When asked about Omaha and Nebraska in general, I really don't know what to say other than it's a nice "'big' small town" like I already said. I can tell you about the zoo. Or the college world series coming here every year. Warren Buffet lives here. So that's something... Omaha kind of blends in when it comes to big-time news and events.
So I guess that is why it surprises me to learn that there was a neo-Nazi rally over the weekend. They actually came from Minneapolis to protest in front of the Mexican Consulate here in Omaha. Seriously? This is how you choose to spend your time?
There were counter-protesters on hand and a separate Diversity Day celebration going on elsewhere. It's times like this that my small-townness comes through. I'm surprised that something like this even still happens. Not the existence of neo-Nazi, but just that neo-Nazi's protesting in Omaha. Would this type of thing even be noteworthy in a large city like Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, or Denver? Or would it still occur, but on a larger scale.
As Mark and I were driving downtown, we were diverted because of the protesting. It's sad to note that I even uttered, "Oh it's probably protesters at the Mexican Consulate again." Because it happens so regularly now. When I first moved to Omaha it was noteworthy to see protesters outside the Planned Parenthood clinic just a few blocks away from the Consulate. Now they are old news. It's more unusual NOT to see them there. It is kind of looking that way with immigration protests now.
I posted this @ 8/15/2007 08:02:00 AM.............Need a link?..........
I'm a 30-something student of human nature. A music-lovin', groove-shakin', laugh-inducin', dish-cookin', gossip-slingin', type of guy. This is my diary of sorts...
